LOVE FOR A DEMON
by Gunman
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men, Gargoyles, or any of their characters.
Summary: While testing a new device for Forge, Nightcrawler is teleported to another universe, where he meets the anti-human female Gargoyle named Demona.
Idea courtesy of Fox Boss.
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Chapter 1
Demona (part 1)
High atop the New York City skyline, a shapely and dangerous looking creature with large leathery wings, a spiky mop of red hair, dressed in a leather top and loincloth skirt, stared out over the city of humans. She had light bluish skin and dark blue eyes which were filled with little more than disdain.
"If this works, I will be rid of mankind once and for all." Demona said.
She looked at the mirror of Titania that she had stolen from the museum, and right under Goliath's and Elisa's nose. Hovering near her was a somewhat smallish man dressed in strange yet colorful medieval looking clothing, almost like a court jester of sorts. He had long white hair and high-pointed ears, his dark emerald eyes hinting at a rather mischief soul.
This was the immortal trickster known as The Puck.
Despite his reputation as a harmless trickster in Shakespeares play, A Midsummers Nights Dream, Puck was actually an immensely powerful individual, as he is one of Oberons' immortal children. Because of this, Demona hoped that Puck's magical powers would be the key to defeating Goliath and destroying mankind.
And right now, wrapped in iron chains, atop one of the tallest buildings in New York City, Puck was being pressed to do just that. Marshaling his forces, so to speak.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Demona asked the trickster.
Suddenly, Puck's attention turned towards the sky as the thunder started to rumble again.
Hmm. This could be interesting. He thought, sensing that someone or something was just hovering overhead, lost and looking for a way out. Or in. Puck flashed his eyes, allowing a tear to form above them. "Yes, but... there's something else here." he said to her.
"What are you talking about? No tricks now!" the female gargoyle snapped as she yanked on his chain.
"It's not me!" the trickster suddenly shouted as a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground.
Demona gasped when she saw the flash, and looked again to see that a lithe and athletic figure has suddenly appeared right in front of her.
The figure looked human and male, except that it was also not human. It, he, had three fingers on each hand, and two-toed feet, he was dressed in a costume that was blue, red and white, and seemed to have a long blue tail with a point at the end of it. He was also wearing a strange mechanical device that was attached to his back, his chest, his arms and had a helmet over his head.
"What is this?" Demona barked at the trickster.
"Hmm. Don't know. Never saw this one before." Puck said with a lazy, almost bored expression. Like he was trying not to be interested. Inside, however, he was laughing at how fun this would be. "However... I don't think he's from around here." he said.
"You mean, from New York?" she asked.
"No, I mean... from another dimension." he stated.
"Another dimension?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes. I can feel it. He's not from this world, this plane of existence. He really has come from another dimension."
"How is that possible?" she asked.
"I'm not sure. But I think that strange device he's wearing might have something to do with it." Puck explained with a lackluster expression.
Suddenly, the strange man moved.
"Owww... Forge, vhat happened?" the figure said, and Demona noted a distinct German accent.
The figure removed the helmet over his head, and Demona balked a little at the mans face. It was covered in blue fur, with pointed ears, a pair of fanged teeth, yellow eyes, and a confused expression.
She balked mostly because she had never seen one like that.
"Who are you?" she asked, getting the mans attention.
At least she thought it was a man.
"Uh... I'm... Kurt Vagner." he said as he shook the confusion and dizziness out of his head. "But in the Munich Circus, I vas known as the Incredible Nightcrawler!" he said as he stood up.
Hmm. Neither human nor gargoyle. She thought.
Kurt looked up at the female gargoyle, slightly stunned at the vision in front of him.
"Vhere am I? And who you are, Fraulein?" he asked.
"I am Demona. A gargoyle." she replied.
"Really? I've never met a gargoyle of your beauty before." he said with a smile.
She smiled at the compliment.
"What are you, exactly?" she asked.
Kurt seemed a little taken back by that, but it wasn't a big deal. He'd had that question thrown at him several times before. This gargoyle however did not seem to recognize him, which might be to his advantage.
"I am a mutant." he said.
"A mutant?" she asked, confused.
"Yes. A human born with special powers, that sets me and my kind apart from mankind." he explained.
"A human with special powers?" the gargoyle gasped, thinking the implications of that could be disastrous.
Humans were already a problem, what with their numbers and technology, not to mention their rampant hatred of all things that they considered different, but if they had abilities that could challenge mystical powers like Demona had come to encounter, she would never be rid of them. Worse, they would be an even greater threat than they already were.
"Wait. You're human?" she asked.
"Vell, yes, and no." he said.
Demona cocked an eyebrow, wondering what he meant by that.
"I see." she said, deciding to let it go for now. "You said 'us', are there more of you?" she asked.
"Yes. More than you would think, and... I can say no more than that." he said.
Demona seemed to get a sense of who this person was.
"But, what did you mean 'sets us apart from mankind'?" she asked.
"Mutants are, for the most part, hated and despised because of what we are."
"I don't understand. What is a mutant, exactly?" she asked.
Kurt sighed, thinking of how Beast had once explained things to him.
"Mutation is za key to evolution. It haz allowed us to evolve from single-celled organisms, to za dominant life-forms on this planet. It is a slow process, taking hundreds of thousands of years. But every few millennia, it leaps forward. In za past there have only been a handful of notable mutants to emerge in society. But over za last century, those numbers have grown, exponentially." he stated.
Exponentially. She thought. This could be interesting. "Hmm. Interesting. And do all mutants look like you?" she asked.
"Nein. Many of zem look like regular humans." he said.
Demona scoffed at that.
"But some mutants are not so easily able to hide themselves. Like myself." he added.
"Hide themselves?" she asked.
"Mutants are hated and feared, because ve possess abilities that ordinary humans do not." he said.
Like gargoyles. She mused. "I see. But what caused this hatred?"
"Fear and suspicion. But mostly the actions of Magneto." he said.
"Magneto?" she asked.
"A mutant with the power to control and manipulate metal."
Demona thought about that. Most of what humans used were metal in some fashion. Their cars, airplanes, weapons, technology, everything they used in their workplaces and at home were made of metal. Even their clothes and devices they carried with them. Someone like that could be quite a valuable ally, or a dangerous foe. Actually, all of them could.
"And why does he specifically dislike mankind?" she asked.
"His family vas killed in the Concentration Camps in Poland, back during World War II, by the Nazis." he said.
Demonas eyes widened as she heard that. She remember World War II. It was very, very bad. And not just for humans. Having encountered the Nazis herself, a memory she loathed, she had a somewhat sympathetic dislike for those particular humans.
"Ah. I see. So he hates them because of personal reasons." she said.
"Yes, but he also hates humans because he believes that they will never share this world with mutants, nor accept them as friends or allies. He believes that they will never accept those who are... different." he said.
"But if most of you look the same..." she started to say.
"Many mutants do look like ordinary humans. But we are considered a different species than Homo-sapiens. We are referred to as Homo-superior." he replied.
"Hmm. Interesting. And I take it that most humans who know about you, are jealous of your powers and abilities?" she asked.
"In a way. Zis leads zem to hate us, and that hatred has driven many of zem to try and persecute us. Enslave and exterminate us." he corrected himself.
"Something that we have in common." she said sadly.
"I have not encountered your race before. Are there many of you?" Kurt asked.
It was a practical question, as she had asked him about his race. Though she had not encountered as many 'mutants' that he had referred himself as.
"Once there were many. All over the world. But over the years there have been fewer. We have to hide out of fear of being destroyed. Those who know of us, consider us to be... unnatural. They think of us as... monsters." she said, venom in her voice.
Kurt sighed when he heard that.
"Yes. Mankind has always been fearful of what looks or is different." he said.
Demona then noticed something in his speech that she hadn't before.
"You do not seem very... upset... at the humans for all this." she said.
"I am upset, but I do not hate them." he said.
"Why? You said that they have persecuted your race. Hunted, killed, even enslaved." she said.
"Yes, and for this, I pity them. And pray for their souls to be redeemed." he said.
Demona arched an eyebrow at that.
"Pray? You pray for your enemies? You are religious?" she asked.
"Yes. Very much so." he said, taking out his cross that was underneath his costume. "I find comfort in my faith."
"That must be... nice." she said sadly.
Puck smiled as he was just hovering in mid-air, eating popcorn and watching the interplay between the two.
"Good drama. But it needs a little... spice." he mused to himself as he took a sip from his soda.
"So, how did you come to wear this strange device?" Demona asked.
"A friend of mine, Forge, a mutant with a genius level intellect, created this device to enhance my abilities." Kurt said.
"Abilities? What abilities do you possess?" she asked, feeling foolish for not asking sooner. He had mentioned that he had special powers, but had not asked him what they were. She had been more interested in who he was. For some strange reason.
Kurt smiled as he looked at Demona, before disappearing in a cloud of blue smoke.
BAMF!
"What?!" she gasped. "Where did he...?" she asked, suddenly sniffing the air. "Is that... sulfur?"
"Some call it 'brimstone'." Kurt said behind her, causing her to turn around.
BAMF!
"What?"
BAMF!
Looking back and then up she saw that Kurt had appeared above her, and then dropped down onto the roof, in a rather graceful pose.
"Ta-Da!" he smiled.
"You can teleport?" she gasped.
"Yes. But it is only line-of sight. I have to be able to see where I am going, otherwise... I might end up inside a wall." he said, then pointed to the device he was still wearing. "Forge created this device to amplify my teleportation abilities. Before I was only able to travel a distance of a mile or so." he said.
"And... you somehow ended up in this dimension?" she asked.
"Vat makes you think I am from another dimension?" he asked, curious.
"I have it on good authority." she said. "But that is incredible! With that power, and the power of other mutants, we would be able to destroy all the humans!" she said.
And now it gets good. Puck smirked as he materialized a bag of chips.
"What? Destroy them? No! Fraulein Demona, you can't be serious." Kurt said.
"Why not? Humans are a disease! They are a plague! They are cruel and vile and dishonorable and even more than that! They have destroyed so many of my kind! Just because we aren't like them! And you said that they've done worse to your own race!" she said.
"Yes, but... that does not mean we are should become like them." he said.
Puck was now half-done eating a bag of chips and giggling.
"This is getting really good." the trickster smirked.
"I will not become like them!" Demon hissed. "My situation is different!"
"You talk about destroying them like they destroyed your kind. How is that different?" he asked.
"Because I am a member of a persecuted race." she said.
"So am I!" he said.
"But you don't want to destroy anyone." she said.
"Of course not. A path of vengeance will only result in your own destruction."
"Who are you? Ghandi?" she asked.
Puck was just laughing at what was going on. If this was the start, then the rest of the night was going to be a hoot!
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Authors Notes:
Another idea that seemed too good to pass up. More so from the concept that Nightcrawler is a very unique character and deserves a chance at love as well.
This first chapter is more of a meeting between Kurt and Demona. The next couple chapters featuring them will be more in-depth. Hopefully.
Hope everyone enjoys this first chapter, which I uploaded on Halloween because it felt appropriate.
Please read and review.